Online Solicitations – how can they help my organization?

In the age of technology that we live in today, almost everything is online. So when vendors are looking for bids for your government organization, shouldn’t they be online as well?  

While newspaper ads and a “paper” purchasing process have worked for public organizations for years, many are now beginning to look for ways to optimize sourcing methods that are outdated and limiting the manual processes required for bid distribution and vendor outreach.

Time saved

Simply put, having your bids online saves the purchasing department time. By limiting these manual practices, public organizations can significantly cut down the amount of time spent searching and contacting vendors, distributing the bid, and tracking responses.

Increasing outreach

One of the most important reasons public organizations opt to post bids online is the increase in vendor outreach. Bids are no longer only being seen by the vendors to whom they are sent, or those reading them in the newspapers. Online bids have the ability to be seen by local vendors in addition to those throughout the country, through an online search or an existing platform with a large vendor database. Organizations expand their vendor pool by receiving bids from vendors whom they previously hadn’t worked with. The ease in which vendors can access bids online, along with the increased outreach, equates to an increase in competition for those solicitations. Increased competition also often leads to lower award amounts, saving the organization (and therefore their taxpayers) money.

Be transparent

Public organizations also gain a higher-level of transparency by posting their bids online. With bids available online, they become public information and available to view for everyone at the same time for fair and open competition. With this level of transparency, no vendor can claim that they were excluded from the process, as the responsibility for finding and submitting a bid now falls on the vendors. In addition, posting solicitations on an online platform that provides auditable tracking allows further insight into the entire purchasing process. Buyers can view or export reports on what vendors were notified of the open bid, those that downloaded documents and addenda, and more.

Going green

Posting bids online provides purchasing departments with a greener approach, eliminating the need for much of the paper used in their previous cycles. Further steps can be taken by public buying organizations to go green, including electronic bid submissions by vendors and handling of the bid response evaluations online.

It’s time for more public organizations to place their solicitations online in a secure and auditable manner. Utilizing an e-sourcing solution for posting bids online saves time, increases vendor outreach and transparency and is beneficial for a “paperless” society. BidNet Direct is trusted by over 1,300 local governments throughout the country for their bid distribution, bid and award management and vendor outreach and management. 

Find out how BidNet Direct can help your government organization today!